In the introduction to the book, the author explains his background as a Christian missionary to Netherlands New Guinea, where he took the message of the gospel to the Sawi natives. The Sawi were known for being cannibals and savages. The people of the Sawi celebrate and reward instances of great treachery and betrayal. Richardson gives away the end of the story, though, as he describes the eventual conversion of the Sawi people from their disastrous ways to a more loving, Christian world view. The main obstacles to this conversion serve to make it an interesting and suspenseful read, nonetheless.